Binge On This ‘Secret’ List of Netflix’s Most Popular Shows

Which is your favorite?

Brandon Friederich

Dec 7, 2018

If you’re a Netflix subscriber, chances are you’ve binged—or at least watched—one or more of their original shows.

As the Observer notes, the streaming giant doesn’t release viewership data, which means third-party metrics are the best tools we have to understand how different Netflix series are performing.

One such metric is called “demand expressions” from Parrot Analytics. Per the software company’s website, here’s what they are and how they work:

Demand Expressions (DEX) represent the total audience demand being expressed for a title, within a country, on any platform. The audience demand is a weighted, country-specific measure of demand.

All demand expressions, such as social media comments or P2P file downloads, are captured with no panels or extrapolation involved. And they are country-specific as they incorporate the country’s population and enable comparison of titles within a single market.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBLcYJ7C4F0

Based on the number of DEXs that five Netflix originals generated from November 25 to December 1, the most popular show is currently Narcos (presumably including the first season of the excellent Narcos: Mexico), followed by Chilling Adventures of Sabrina and Stranger Things.

Here are the top five titles and their correlating DEXs:

Narcos (36,493,678)
Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (34,342,653)
Stranger Things (31,396,719)
Daredevil (29,965,918)
The Last Kingdom (22,682,182)

Even though Daredevil took the no. 4 spot, it was recently announced that the hit superhero show is ending after its third season, fueling concern that the two remaining original Marvel titles in Netflix’s library—Jessica Jones and The Punisher—might be axed next.

House of Cards (19,615,266), Orange Is the New Black (19,161,628), 13 Reasons Why (19,159,801) and The Haunting of Hill House (17,922,287) also received high marks from Parrot Analytics.

Meanwhile, here’s a look at what’s coming and going from Netflix in December.